Spring Chronicles....

[Hansen]

I think Tonka is May 5th. My guess is Tonk is off in 10days if the forecast is correct. . . . IF.

[deet]

Eagle by Maple Grove is April 20th. I can't imagine any [real] lakes down there will be cleared in the next two days, or am I wrong?

Also many further south have surpassed their previous records. Are ANY MN lakes ice-free yet?

[maplelakeduckslayer]

I dunno I think even with 60's it's going to take a bit...still pretty cold at night. If we get rain that's a whole nother story

[lanyard]

Sun during day, rain at night, and wind all the time. We kind of missed March winds.

Inclination if the sun will make things happen fast, trick will be getting snow melt off, but the darker ice underneath should absorb some rays and help retain some heat.... will be interesting!

[deet]

Still 36" of ice on one of our late freezers up here last night. Ice is solid and "dry" (not saturated with any liquid water yet). This lake typically locks up around Christmas and usually doesn't build more than 20" of ice in a whole winter.

But the snow's almost gone. Will a 3' thick sheet melt in 3 weeks? The weather looks favorable. We shall see.

[Hansen]

It will go really fast, the angle of the sun, plus length of daylight. If we are in the low 60's on Monday like they say small lakes will start opening up. Bigger lakes around the metro like Waconia or Mtka will take 10 days.

[Nershi]

Melt hasn't even begun on lakes around me. Still about a foot of snow on the lakes, shorelines in solid shape and ice is still solid and very thick. At some point this weekend I would expect the snow to be gone and we should start making progress on melting the ice. If it stays sunny we may have a chance that some lakes will be open by opener or shortly after. If it clouds up we could be breaking some records.

[deet]

Here's an interesting comparison: 4-18-18 compared to 4-26-13.

The 2013 photo and 2018 show approx equal snow coverage, however in 2013 the rivers (Rainy and St Louis) melt had advanced well beyond where we are today.

The nearest clear satellite pic of 2013 is 4-20-13. That date had 100% snow coverage, but more open water on Lake Superior and Rainy River than what we have now.

Looks like we're very comparable to 2013 this year. We MIGHT clear out a few days ahead of what we did then. More ice this year, but a jump-start on the snow melt.

[Hansen]

Good stuff! Interesting photos. Temps will shoot up today with the clear blue sky. I bet a major snow goose migration is happening today.

[lanyard]

Saw a video on Fbook from "Tonka: 27" clear ice as of April 6 I think it said.

I'm pretty much jonesing. But JFC, I know it's not the first time this has happened but man, it's 156 days to duck opener!!!!